


Regrets

by Phelpsgirlxxx



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, RIORDAN Rick - Works, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alive Bianca di Angelo, Bianca lives, Broken Bones, Broken Families, Catatonic, F/M, Hurt, Hurt Nico di Angelo, Leaving the Hunters, Mental Illness, Mental Illness kind of?, More tags as I think of them., Pain, Poor Nico, Pre-Nico di Angelo/Will Solace - Freeform, Protective Will, Sadness, Tartarus, although if they get together it will be in a sequel, protective Bianca
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28729788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phelpsgirlxxx/pseuds/Phelpsgirlxxx
Summary: Bianca survived the junkyard of the Gods, but she still left with the hunters.Nico still left camp.Nico was still alone.Better than summary.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Gleeson Hedge/Mellie, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, later - Relationship
Comments: 5
Kudos: 65





	Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> I forgot to do essay work today arghhhhh instead I wrote this. I'm screwed.
> 
> I also spent ages reading DashingLuna's works and this kind of inspired this.
> 
> If you haven't read them, specifically the series about Bianca, I would 100% recommend them.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading.
> 
> There might be a sequel to this if enough people like it and want one. :D let me know.

BIANCA

Bianca had barely survived Hephaestus’ junkyard, but quick thinking by Percy and Zoe had saved her, that and a fair amount of nectar.

The rest of the quest had passed quickly, and Bianca’s heart jolted as Zoe died, looking at the stars. The huntress had saved her life, but Bianca had not been able to return the favour. She wished she had been.

Once Artemis was saved, Thalia ended up becoming the new lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, but Bianca was glad. She didn’t want to lead, she never had, instead she didn’t want to have to be the responsible one for once, she wanted to be led, she wanted to not be in charge. Thalia taking on the role was a dream come true.

Artemis had taken her aside after the meeting at Olympus and asked her to stay with her while Thalia went to collect the rest of the hunters, and she had readily agreed, once again pressing the Hades statue into Percy’s waiting hand and he readily promised he’d give it to her brother, and she was glad.

Bianca was glad she wasn’t going back to camp, she wasn’t sure she wanted to see her brother, to see how he’d got on without her. No, it was better he learned to look after himself and not rely on her. She knew she’d seen him again, she had no doubt about that, but the wound was still too fresh. They needed a clean break, at least for a while. 

She knew she’d see her brother again, but better to have distance for a while first.

PJOHOOTOA.

It took ten months for anyone to tell her.

Ten months, and she was furious, but by that point, she knew he was at least a bit safe, at least from what Percy had told her.

Nico had been bullied at camp by some of the Ares kids, ones much older than her younger brother, and he’d been new, he’d only been there a few weeks, and he’d panicked. At his panic skeletons had burst through the floor immediately storming towards the startled Ares campers, bones rattling as they moved.

The Ares campers had fought them of course, but from what Percy had told her, Nico had been terrified, not of the skeletons, but of himself, of what he’d done. 

No one had been able to stop Nico as he fled into the night as snow fell around the camp.

He’d run with no money, no clothes apart from those on his back, and nothing else.

Nico had run away totally alone and totally unprepared.

“He’d been trying to summon your Mother.” Percy had told her.

Bianca couldn’t remember her much, and she knew Nico couldn’t either, but he was young, he wanted his Mom, he didn’t have the family that Bianca had come to find in the Hunters of Artemis, instead her brother had become a young homeless boy living somewhere in the United States in a time he didn’t understand.

She’d felt terrible, but felt slightly better once Percy had told her he’d given up on it, and he’d seen him banish Minos. Sure, her brother was still a homeless kid, but at least he wasn’t being manipulated.

PJOHOOTOA.

Percy hadn’t told her another eight months later that her brother had helped him take on the curse of Achilles.

Annabeth had told Thalia who had told her.

She was sure she should be angry at her brother, but she’d caught a brief glimpse of him with their father, leading the armies of the dead at the battle of Manhattan. Her brother had helped save the day, but Bianca hadn’t focused on that.

Instead she’d been horrified at the sight of him, her first sight of him in over a year and a half, and it had been from afar.

His previously olive skin was so pale it was almost translucent, his hair was too long, falling into his eyes, and being a general nuisance. She hadn’t been able to see his eyes, but Thalia who had told her they had vivid dark circles beneath them as if it had been months since the boy had slept. Finally, the worst of it had been his weight. Even from afar it was obvious he hadn’t been eating, he was skinny, so skinny. She’d gasped at the sight of him, she’d wanted to run over to him, help him, do anything to make him eat, but her hunter friend Olivia had drawn her in the opposite direction, and Bianca had followed.

PJOHOOTOA.

Percy was missing.

Annabeth had called the hunters begging them to keep an eye out for her boyfriend, and Thalia had easily agreed, so the rest of the girls were keeping their eyes out.

There had been no sign of him however.

Annabeth had also told her Nico had been helping them look but he’d disappeared, and no one had been able to get in touch with him for months.

Bianca tried not to let this bother her, her brother had never been easy to track since he’d discovered they were half-bloods. However, despite trying to reassure herself, she was scared. It wasn’t safe out there for demigods, there was a reason people tried to travel together. What if he was dead? What if he’d been captured? Was there anyone else out there that would look for him?

PJOHOOTOA.

Hazel Levesque, a shot of light for Bianca.

Hazel would look for her brother if he ever went missing, she was sure of it. She’d met the girl briefly near Camp Jupiter and she’d been the sweetest person Bianca had ever met, and she was glad she’d able to call the girl her sister.

Thalia had wanted to offer Hazel a place with them, but Hazel had shot her down.

“I won’t leave Nico alone.”

Hazel hadn’t meant it to be mean, she never would, but the words had shot a dagger through Bianca’s heart anyway.

She’d been apologised to profusely once Hazel had realised, but she brushed it off. Really, she thought she deserved it.

PJOHOOTOA.

LEO.

Leo had been pleased to see the smile on Hazel’s face once her brother had been rescued, although it had dropped as her brother began whispering to her, telling her everything that had happened.

Hazel had wrapped her brother in the briefest of hugs, and Leo could have sworn he saw tears in Nico’s eyes, but he blinked and they were gone, so he was sure he’d imagined it.

Leo had worked with Jason and Frank to get the Athena Parthenos back onto the ship, and as soon as they had disembarked again they were met with Hazel’s terrified screams.

“Hazel!” Frank cried, immediately rushing to his girlfriend.

He’d wrapped his arms around her, and the screaming had stopped, but her body shook and sobs heaved from her chest.

“Where’s Percy, Annabeth and Nico?” Jason asked as his eyes cast around the car park as the building within it began to cave in on itself.

“They fell in! Tartarus!”

Silence fell over the group, and Leo bowed his head.

“What?” Jason asked shakily. He was clearly trying to keep his tone stead but he didn’t manage.

Hazel took a deep breath.

“Annabeth was being dragged down by the webbing and Percy managed to grab her but fell himself. He had a hold on the edge, and Nico leant over to try and save them. He went too far and he fell.”

“By himself?” Leo couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, I tried to reach Annabeth and Percy myself, but I couldn’t. They-they made me promise to find the House of Hades. Nico told me before, on the ship, that’s where the doors of death are.”

“So we’re going to meet the three of them at the House of Hades?” Frank asked.

“Hopefully, although there’s no guarantee Nico will be with them.” She said, tears frantically sliding down her cheeks.

PJOHOOTOA.

PERCY

Annabeth and Percy had landed in a river, and luckily managed to make their way out, although it had been a struggle. 

They knew they had to find the Phlegethon if they wanted to survive, they needed to heal before they could try and find the doors and escape.

“Percy, where do you think Nico landed?” Annabeth asked, voice quiet.

A jolt of pain shot through Percy’s chest. He hadn’t even thought about the son of Hades, but he’d fallen into Tartarus too. Again.

“I’m not sure, but we have to head for the doors. Nico will find his own way there, he’s been here before.” Percy told her, trying to inject more confidence than he felt into his words.

Annabeth nodded.

As they made their way to the Phlegethon in silence, Percy couldn’t help but remember his promise to Bianca. He’d told the girl he’d help look after her brother as she wanted to stay with the Hunters of Artemis. He had done a terrible job of it however. Nine months out of the year he had no idea where Nico even was, and half of the other three months he only knew because of his dreams.

He really hadn’t kept his promise well.

PJOHOOTOA.

Neither Annabeth or Percy were sure how long they’d been in Tartarus. Time passed differently in the Underworld, and neither of them had been able to work out how long they fell for.

For a while, the two had been following some empousa who were heading towards the doors themselves, hiding behind rocks and other substances Percy wasn’t sure he entirely wanted to know the names of.

“Percy, listen to what they’re saying.” Annabeth whispered urgently.

Percy immediately did.

“We’ll probably catch up to where I last saw him in a few minutes.” One of the empousa said to their leader, one named Kelli that Percy had fought before.

“Why didn’t you kill him yourself?” One of the other empousa said.

The first rolled her eyes.

“Because, last time he was here he managed to kill a few empousa by himself.” She said obviously.

“Yes, but he’s in no state to do so now, right?” The third empousa asked.

“Yes, but I wanted to give Kelli the honour, duh! The boy helped defeat Kronos.”

The empousa muttered between themselves for a second before they all agreed.

“Thank you Tiffani, I appreciate it. I will enjoy draining the son of Hades of his blood.”

Percy had to refrain from cursing, instead sharing a look with Annabeth.

They needed to follow the empousa and save Nico before it was too late, they had to act at the right time, or they’d all die.

“It’s a shame he’s in no state to fight however, I do prefer my food when they fight back.” Kelli said with a wicked grin.

PJOHOOTOA.

At Percy’s best guess it took them ten minutes of following the empousa before they found Nico.

Neither Annabeth nor Percy could see the boy, but Kelli’s glee at finding him had been enough, and the two had immediately begun fighting. There had only been a few empousa in the group, and as Percy and Annabeth had the element of surprise they made quick work of them.

The two collapsed against each, drained as they finished fighting, before they returned to the task at hand.

“Nico?” Annabeth called out hesitantly, praying to gods that probably weren’t listening that the boy would be okay and they wouldn’t attract the attention of any monsters.

It took them a minute to find the boy, squished between two large boulders, hands over his ears, knees to his chest, face buried in them. He shook where he was, and the two older demigods shared a look before Annabeth moved forward being the gentlest of the two more often than not.

“Nico?” She asked softly as she approached.

The boy showed no sign of hearing her, so she crouched and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.

The scream that tore from his throat was horrendous. 

His head darted up, and despite looking at the two, no recognition shone through in his eyes. His hands went up and tangled in his hair, pulling it harshly, whimpering as he buried his head into his knees again.

“No. No. No. No. No.” He muttered as he began to rock in the slight space he had.

“What do we do?” Percy asked carefully.

Something had broken in the boy. Something had destroyed him. Percy had seen him once he’d been rescued from the bronze jar, and he’d been quiet and starved, and something in his eyes seemed broken. 

Now, he’d been destroyed.

“We can’t just leave him.” Annabeth muttered to herself, and Percy looked horrified at the thought.

“No.” He told her plainly.

“I wasn’t suggesting we should, I’m just… thinking.”

It took her a few moments before she could come up with an idea.

“We might have to knock him out and carry him. He’s in no state to walk, and I think if we try to pick him up in his current state…”

“Right.”

Annabeth used her blade to knock him on the head as Percy worried he might accidentally put too much pressure behind it. As soon as the blade hit his head, the son of Hades collapsed, his body unfurling, and he remained still.

The daughter of Athena immediately checked his pulse and sighed slightly as she realised it was steady.

“He’s fine.”

“Good. We need to keep moving.”

Percy carefully pulled the boy from behind the boulders, and the two demigods winced as they looked the boy over carefully. His face was covered in cuts, although none of them looked deep. One of his arms was bent at a weird angle and his left calf was extremely swollen.

“Poor kid.” Percy muttered as he grabbed the boy, slinging him over his back.

“Yeah.” Annabeth echoed.

“We should keep moving.” Percy repeated, and Annabeth nodded as the two began moving again.

PJOHOOTOA.

Neither of the two demigods knew how long had passed before they met Bob the Titan.

“Percy friend!”

“Bob!”

Percy couldn’t help the slight dash of happiness at seeing the titan, although the moment after he was encased in guilt. He’d never tried to see the titan again, instead he had trusted Nico to find the titan room in Hades’ palace, but judging by the broom in Bob’s hand, he’d been successful.

“This is Annabeth.” Percy introduced after a few moments, and Annabeth attempted to smile at the guy although it came out as more of a grimace.

“Hello Annabeth.”

“Hi.”

“Is that Nico friend?”

Annabeth and Percy quickly shared a look. 

“He’s… not very well Bob.”

Bob frowned, and turned to look at the boy, and sadness swept across his face.

“Oh no. Nico friend is hurt.”

“Yeah.”

“He visited me in the palace, he told me we’re friends.”

“We are.”

Bob nodded reassuringly, and turned to Annabeth.

“Owie.” He said pointing her shoulder, before he carefully laid a finger on it and it immediately healed.

“Thank you.” She said with a nod.

“Nico’s hurt too, do you think you can help him?” Percy asked, maneuvering the son of Hades into his arms.

Bob frowned again.

“I can heal his leg. His arm… some bones shattered.”

“His head?” Annabeth inquired.

“I can fix a bump, but his mind is weird.” Bob told them.

“Please help as much as you can.” Percy begged.

“Of course.”

Bob did as he was asked, and then he touched Nico’s forehead again.

“What was that?” Annabeth asked.

“Keeps him asleep. Will last six hours. I’ll have to redo it. Now come friends, we have to head to the doors.”

“Thank you.”

Bob smiled, and took Nico from Percy and curled him up in one of the giant pockets of his overalls.

“I will keep Nico friend safe.”

PJOHOOTOA.

Bob had sacrificed himself at the doors, and pain shot through both conscious demigods. 

Luckily the titan had handed over the son of Hades who was now curled up unconscious in one corner of the elevator as the two older demigods fought to keep the doors closed for twelve minutes.

Once the time was up, the two collapsed against each other as the elevator shot upwards.

PJOHOOTOA.

Once they made their way through the doors, Nico once again slung over Percy’s back, they met with Hazel and Leo.

It was clear the daughter of Pluto wanted to inquire about her unconscious brother on Percy’s back but as they were surrounded she didn’t get the chance.

Once they’d fought their way free of the House of Hades, being joined by Frank, Jason and Piper part way through, Hedge was waiting close with the ship, and Percy sighed as he was helped onto the ship by Jason, Nico still on his back, before the son of Jupiter collected two of the others.

“About time cupcakes, we have a guest!”

The group gathered around Hedge who had been joined by Reyna.

Percy slipped to the side for a second and placed Nico down against one of the sides of the ship before joining the conversation, slumped slightly against Annabeth out of exhaustion.

“What happened in-” Leo began but was cut off by a stern look from Hazel.

“We… we don’t want to talk about it. At least not yet.” Annabeth told them, and the rest of the crew nodded.

“So… I need to get a statue to Camp Half-Blood?” Reyna asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes!” Leo said, leaping on the chance to break the awkward tension in the air.

“I’ll need help.”

“None of us can go though… we’re part of the prophecy.” Piper murmured, although everyone easily heard.

“Plus, how will you get to Camp Half-Blood?” Jason added.

Everyone frowned.

“Coach, you could go with her. Don’t you want to go back to camp?” Frank said, a strange glint in his eyes, as if he knew something no one else did.

“Yes! Yes, I’ll go with her cupcakes.”

Everyone on the crew seemed relieved that the Praetor wouldn’t have to go alone.

“How will we get there?” Coach Hedge asked.

Silence fell again.

“I have an idea, I mean-” Hazel began.

“What is it?” Leo asked before she could begin rambling which she sometimes did out of slight nervousness when she had ideas in front of the older demigods.

“Shadow travel. When Nico’s awake he can take them.”

“Great!” Jason said at the same time as Percy began speaking.

“He can’t.”

Everyone immediately turned to look at the son of Poseidon.

“What?” Hazel asked, a frown forming on her face before she turned to look at her brother who looked as if he was merely sleeping.

“Nico’s… not well.” Percy said hesitantly before he looked at Annabeth for support.

As Annabeth hesitated, Hazel rushed over to her brother and placed her hand on his forehead and frowning when she realised he was cold, clearly she had expected a temperature.

“What’s wrong with him?” She demanded.

“We didn’t end up in the same place, so we’re not entirely sure.” Annabeth told her.

Hazel began to look angry.

“Tell me what’s wrong with my brother!” She cried.

Frank rushed over to his girlfriend and wrapped an arm around her but said nothing, instead staring expectantly at the son of Poseidon and daughter of Athena.

“We found him maybe a couple of days in. We’ve had to keep him unconscious since.” Percy told her.

“Something’s wrong with him. Something’s missing? No… broken. Everytime he woke up he was either unresponsive or terrified. His screams…” Annabeth trailed off.

Fat tears started rolling down Hazel’s cheeks, and the rest of them bowed their heads as if in mourning.

“He’ll get better, right?” Hazel asked through her tears.

“We’re not sure. Neither of us have any medical knowledge, at least none that would help. Our best bet is getting him to camp whenever we can and hoping the healers there can help him.”

“Or Mr D.” Percy added.

The knowledge seemed to be too much for Hazel, and she collapsed sobbing against Frank’s chest, and he carefully picked her up, leading the two of them off the deck and towards the rooms down below.

“If we can find a way to get back to camp perhaps we could take him with us.” Reyna suggested.

“Yeah, there’s a healer there, Will something or other, I think he might be able to help, or at least keep him stable or whatever until he can get some proper help.” Coach Hedge added.

“Will Solace.” Annabeth said with a nod.

“Exactly.”

“We still don’t know how we can get you guys to camp though.” Leo butted in.

Coach Hedge seemed to dither for a second.

“I can call… a friend. I can see if they have any ideas, they might be able to help in some way.”

“Anything would help.” Jason told the satyr gratefully.

“Right, right, of course I’ll do that now.”

PJOHOOTOA.

It took a few hours and a lot of drachma, but finally it was arranged.

Pegasi had been willing to help according to Coach’s friend and they would gather a few and take Reyna, Coach Hedge, the Athena Parthenos and Nico to Camp Half-Blood, although they would have to take a few stops along the way.

It had taken two days until they’d been found by the pegasi, and the entire time they’d been knocking Nico out although only when Hazel wouldn’t see. Although that had been their strategy, none of them were extremely willing to keep doing it, especially as they were worried about the long term effects.

It had been a conflict, especially as Hedge had decided his best idea was to keep Nico strapped to him while they rode in a sort of big baby carrier that Leo had whipped up.

He’d reassured the group the boy weighed practically nothing, and with a frown they realised they’d not made sure the boy had eaten anything even since leaving Tartarus.

Reyna and Hedge promised they’d try and change that as they travelled.

After everyone had failed to come up with a way to keep Nico unconscious without hitting him on the head, it was decided they’d have to keep doing it and hope the damage they would cause wouldn’t be too much.

The morning the group left, a red eyed Hazel moved over to look at her unconscious brother, and lightly kissed his cheek.

“Stay safe brother.” She whispered before Hedge and Reyna mounted the horses, Nico strapped to hedge and flew away, the Athena Parthenos strapped between a couple of the pegasi, one of which was being ridden by Reyna.

PJOHOOTOA.

It was a few days into travelling as the group descended into a small village in the UK so the pegasi could rest and the others could eat that Hedge peeled off the baby carrier and he noticed an awake son of Hades.

“Nico? Nico di Angelo?” He questioned carefully as he placed the boy on the ground.

The boy showed no sign of life at the call of his name, nor did he react once Hedge reached down and grabbed his wrist to check there was still a pulse.

There was and thankfully it was steady.

“Hedge?”

“He’s awake.”

“Does he know where he is?”

Hedge shook his head.

“No, he’s… not there I guess.”

Reyna nodded.

“We need to eat and get some rest.” She said quickly.

“Right, any idea how we can feed him?”

“Not a clue. We should try and get him to drink something at least though.”

“Yes.” Hedge quickly agreed.

PJOHOOTOA.

The morning of the first of August found the three back at camp, and luckily fine for the most part, although Nico’s arms now held a scar from Lycaon as Hedge hadn’t managed to pull him out of the way fast enough.

The two had been even more worried when the son of Hades had shown no response to the claws tearing through his flesh.

Hedge had left Reyna on the boat where she promised she could look after herself, and he’d taken Nico, still attached to the baby carrier with him.

He’d rushed into the Big House where he knew Mellie was being kept, and he carefully placed Nico in one corner of the room Mellie was in as he heard Mellie’s voice crying out.

“Mellie!”

“Gleeson!” She cried.

“You need to push Mellie.” A soft reassuring voice said.

Hedge knew that voice, Will Solace.

As Mellie began pushing and Hedge tried to reassure his wife the best he could, helping her in any way she needed, Hedge noticed the boy looked slightly sick, and it was understandable, heck the kid was probably fourteen or fifteen years old at most and he was doing something most adults wouldn't be able to. No wonder he looked sick.

"You're almost there Mellie, so close. One more big push!" Will cried.

It was only another minute before the sounds of crying filled the room.

"A Satyr baby." He said softly, wrapping the baby in a blanket after cleaning it off somewhat and handing it Mellie.

"Thank you." Hedge told the boy, shaking his hand tightly.

"You're welcome. It's a boy by the way."

As Hedge moved his hand away he realised the son of Apollo's hands were shaking, which wasn’t too surprising, he was fairly sure the boy was fourteen, or at least just turned fifteen, so it was no wonder he was struggling, many grown people would be uncomfortable doing the same job.

Mellie rocked their son gently, and Hedge wrapped an arm around his wife, pressing a kiss to her temple and staring down at their son.

“He’s beautiful.” Mellie said.

“He is. He’s going to be one heck of a fighter, just like his Pop.” Hedge said with a grin.

“Chuck.” Mellie whispered looking down at her son, and Hedge smiled, he couldn’t think of a better name.

Hedge was snapped from his musings by a voice.

“Hi Nico.”

Hedge immediately drew his eyes away from his son and over to Will who was frowning at the son of Hades who was staring ahead unblinking.

“Nico?” Will asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

Hedge pressed another kiss to his wifes temple before moving over to the son of Apollo.

“We need to talk.”

PJOHOOTOA.

Hedge grabbed the holder containing Nico and strapped the boy to himself again after asking Clarisse to keep an eye on Mellie.

At Hedge’s insistence Will took the satyr and the demigod strapped to his chest to another room, and Hedge undid the straps, carefully placing the son of Hades into an armchair.

“What’s going on?” Will asked, moving to look at the son of Hades, worried.

“Physically or mentally?”

Will bit his lip.

“Physically first.”

“Scratches from Lycaon on his arm. The other arm had some shattered bones in it apparently but they’ll need to be broken again as they’ve probably started healing up by themselves, but we don’t know.”

“Right.”

“He’s also probably dehydrated and I don’t even want to guess how malnourished he is.”

Will looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

“He may have more physical stuff wrong with him, but that’s all I know of.”

“Right. Now why does he seem… out of it.”

“Ah.”

Hedge paused not sure how to start.

“Hedge?” Will prompted.

“A lot happened but he fell into Tartarus.”

“Jesus Christ!” Will cursed, his voice much more southern than Hedge had heard before.

“Then he was trapped in a jar in a state called a death trance according to Hazel Levesque.”

“Okay… okay… what does that mean?”

“Basically his organs shut down, it’s meant to be uncomfortable but it keeps you alive if you’re a child of Hades using pomegranate seeds.”

Will pinched the top of his nose tightly, eyes scrunched shut.

“Okay. Okay. Right.”

“Then when he was rescued he was quiet but he fell into Tartarus again.”

Will moved to slump into another armchair in the room, taking a moment to compose himself.

“He fell into Tartarus… twice? With Annabeth and Percy?” Will asked.

Hedge wasn’t entirely sure how the boy knew they’d gone to Tartarus, but he didn’t question it.

“The first time no, the second time… kind of. They fell at separate times and didn’t land in the same place. Annabeth and Percy found him at some point and he was in this state, although he flickers between this and hysterical screaming.”

“It’s no wonder.” Will whispered.

“We were hoping Dionysus might be able to help.”

“He’s not here at the moment but when he’s back he might be able to. For now I think it best we keep him with Mellie and the others… he’s not harmful to anyone is he?” Will asked.

“No.”

“Good, we’ll keep him there, I think Clarisse intends to stay with Mellie to keep her and the baby safe. I’m sure she could make sure Nico doesn’t die too. When the battle starts though I need to be out, I need to make sure people are okay.”

Hedge nodded.

“For now, can you quickly run to the infirmary and pass a note to Kayla for me please?” Will asked after a few moments of silence.

“Sure.”

Will nodded, grabbing a pen before scrawling a note on a piece of paper and allowing Hedge to take it to his sister.

As Hedge left Will ran his eyes over Nico.

“Gods, once this battle is over and when Mr D is back I hope we can help you. Until then I guess I’ll have to look after you.”

PJOHOOTOA.

The hunters had been fighting giants raised by Gaea for weeks, and as Gaea was stopped August first the hunters were glad of the break. It had been a long few months and the silence was appreciated.

The girls all retired to their tents, falling asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

It wasn’t until August the seventh that Artemis came to her.

“Bianca, I wish to speak with you.”

“Yes my Lady.”

Bianca was carefully guided into Thalia’s tent where the lieutenant was waiting. She waited for Artemis to take a seat before she took one and motioned for Bianca to do the same.

“Bianca, it’s Nico.” Thalia said at Lady Artemis’ prompting.

“No! No, he’s not dead… I’d have felt if he was dead.”

It had been a few years since she had spoken to Nico, and she regretted it. She wished often she could make it up to her brother, let him know she still cared. She was his family, as was Hazel, even if Bianca hadn’t been around much.

“No, he’s not dead my dear.” Artemis told her.

“But?”

“Nico fell into Tartarus… twice.” Thalia told her.

Tears immediately brimmed in Bianca’s eyes and she made no move to stop them as they began to overflow.

Her poor brother.

Her poor poor brother.

“Is he okay?” She asked after a few moments of failing to compose herself.

“Not really. I’ve spoken with Annabeth and one of the healers at Camp Half-Blood, they said he’s either pretty much catatonic or he’s terrified. He doesn’t know where he is half the time.” Thalia told her.

“Will he get better?”

“They think so although they are waiting for Dionysus to return to know for sure, and even if he will get better it will be a long process. At the moment William Solace is looking after him for the most part in the infirmary.”

Bianca took a moment.

Her brother was older than her now, less than a year older, sure, but still older. He was thirteen and she was twelve, only a few weeks off turning thirteen technically, but her brother was older, around eight or nine months.

“Is it just Will looking after him?” She asked.

Thalia had seemed to expect this questioning.

“Yes. Hazel had to return to Camp Jupiter.” 

Bianca nodded.

“My lady, I wish to be relieved of my duties. My brother needs me.” Bianca said clearly, no ounce of hesitation in her voice.

She should have done this a year ago after the battle of Manhattan. She had seen how horrible her brother had looked and still she had left him alone. She’d known he hadn’t stayed at Camp Half Blood, she’d known he was homeless again for the most part, and still she did nothing. 

“Very well. I can send you to Camp Half-Blood and relieve you of your duties.”

“Thank you my Lady.”

“You have served me well Bianca di Angelo.”

Bianca bowed.

“Go and collect your things quickly.” Artemis told her.

She bowed again and hurried out.

Most of the girls were still sleeping so she didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, instead she quickly gathered her things and headed back to Thalia’s tent.

“Tell everyone goodbye for me please.” She begged Thalia.

“Of course.”

Bianca nodded.

“Goodbye Bianca.”

Bianca felt a shiver run over her and she knew it was the immortality leaving her, and then in a flash of light she was gone.

PJOHOOTOA.

When she opened her eyes, she immediately knew where she was.

The porch of the Big House.

“Bianca di Angelo?”

Bianca immediately spun on her heel and her eyes fell on Chiron in his wheelchair.

“Hi, I…” She trailed off.

“You’re no longer immortal.” He said.

“No. Nico needs me.”

Chiron nodded.

“Indeed.”

“How is he?” She asked carefully.

“He’s...not well. I believe when Dionysus returns he will make progress, but it will be slow.”

“I know, and I need to be there for him.”

Chiron didn’t say anything for a few seconds.

“Very well, follow me.”

She did.

As Chiron led her to the infirmary she grew nervous but tried to shake it off, steeling herself. She knew her brother was not going to be in good condition, that was expected, but she still was terrified for what she would find.

People stopped and stared at her as she entered the infirmary, and Kayla immediately pointed them towards a side room.

Chiron opened the door, and motioned for Bianca to enter, and as soon as her eyes fell on her brother she began crying again.

“Nico.” She whispered, tears falling as she moved to kneel by his bed.

She barely noticed the other demigod in the room until he started speaking.

“Are you his sister?”

“Yes. Bianca di Angelo.”

The boy made a noncommittal noise and she tried not to let it bother her.

“Your brother is in for a long ride.” He said after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes.”

Bianca finally let her eyes run over her brother and she had to hold in hysterical sobs as she noticed how bad he looked.

She had thought he’d looked bad during the battle of Manhattan, but now… now it was so much worse. He was practically skin and bones and the bags under his eyes were the darkest she’d ever seen.

One of his arms was in a cast and the other had bandages around the top and had an IV drip within it.

“What happened?”

“Werewolf scratch and one his wrist bones and two of his arm bones practically shattered when he fell into Tartarus for the second time.”

Bianca didn’t say anything.

“The IV is so he can eat and drink, we can’t make him swallow anything until Mr D’s back.”

“Right.”

Finally she drew her eyes away from Nico and turned to look at the boy properly.

He looked exhausted and his blond hair was sticking up all over the place.

“Thank you for looking after my brother.”

He nodded, and although it was his job it seemed as if there were another reason for his actions, but she didn’t press.

“You’re welcome.” He said after a while.

“Maybe you should go and get some sleep.”

“Mmm. Get Kayla or Austin, the other healers in the infirmary if you need them. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Thank you.”

He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder for a second before leaving the room.

Bianca wasn’t sure when Chiron had left, but now she was alone.

“I’m so so sorry Nico, I should have been there for you, and I’m sorry.”

Nico didn’t respond.

“I promise you now Nico, I promise on the Styx, whenever you need me I’ll be there, as long as I shall live.”

Nico still did not respond, but Bianca hadn’t expected him to.

All she knew was she wanted to be there for him, and she would never turn her back on her family again, even if she hadn’t originally intended to, at least not like that. She would be there for Nico though, as long as she could.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review and leave kudos if you liked this!
> 
> Plus comment if you'd like a sequel at some point :D


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